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The Inheritance of the Overcomersby Pastor Gary C. PriceThere is an inheritance promised to those who overcome, but what is the inheritance and to whom is it promised? If we examine Revelation Chapters 2-3, we see God’s letters to the churches. Each letter ends with a reference to those who overcome. Promises for Those Who Overcome
What are We Overcoming? “And God said, let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God
said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon
the earth.” The sequences of creation show the ultimate goal God was after - a creation made in His own image. Once this was achieved, He rested. God was making someone who was like Him, who could have dominion over the earth and rule in His stead. The life of Jesus reflects what Adam and Eve were before the fall; man in obedience to God and operating under His authority. Jesus could suspend anything in nature because He had dominion over the earth. He could modify anything in creation because Jesus was the second Adam - a reflection of what Adam would have been had he not fallen. Time and space did not control Jesus, He controlled it. He could speak and make it obey. This is what was lost in the Garden of Eden: a creation made in the image of God who had dominion over all other aspects of creation. God told them they could eat of every tree in the garden except for one. “The day you eat of it” God said, “You will surely die.” Then, the first thing the devil did when he approached Eve was to lie saying “You shall not surely die.” There is knowledge to be gained from understanding what happened in the garden. When you listen to Satan and ingest his words, it brings death. Remember, one of the promises to the overcomer is that they will be given to eat of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. That tree is actually the possessor of a nature - Jesus, the tree of life. On the other hand, the tree that produces death and a rebellious nature is Satan. God knows that when you eat of this tree, you will be just like Him knowing good and evil. What is the value in knowing evil? There is none. If you did not know evil, your mind would be at peace and free. If you would have not known evil, you would have not done evil. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil
with good.” What was the devil after by tempting Adam and Eve? He was recreating them in his image. He was conceiving another type of life. God’s image was in front of him and he had to figure a way to get in. He had to find out how to pervert and mutate what God created. By yielding their members to the devil, they took on the nature of the devil. Adam and Eve received Satan’s words and that began the conception of a new life, a life the Bible calls “the old man.” This is the man you were born as. You came into the world with this nature that has a propensity for rebellion, lies and deceit. Why? Because it was conceived by a lie. Satan asked Eve, “Has God said?” Yet he knew! The devil knew exactly what God had said, but it is his nature to question, to plant doubt, and to sow seeds of rebellion. If you walk in the old man, you too will also walk in deceptions, lies, and fantasies. Anything that conveys the truth will be unappetizing to you. God fathered Adam and Eve as holy, righteous, and pure. The devil fathered the fallen Adam and Eve; using lies, he conceived another, mutated life type. From the minute of this conception, mankind began to corrupt. Throughout time, the corruption is still being carried out. How Do We Overcome? “And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death.” Here we see that evil is embodied in a person, and it has a name: Satan. We are overcoming Satan, but this is not primarily an external battle. We are not just fighting Satan somewhere “out there.” We must overcome the elements of Satan that are in us. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to
the obedience of Christ” God gives us weapons to pull down the strongholds we face, but notice where these strongholds are - they are within. There is nothing from without a man that can defile him. (Mark 7:15) We are equipped to overcome. We are equipped to fight. But the foe is within. We must bring into subjection everything that compels us to rebel against God - every imagination, every high thing, every thought. Jesus said, “...the prince of this world comes and has nothing in me.” (John 14:30) Once we obtain victory over the rebellious nature within, we have victory over the author of rebellion. Look again at Revelation 12:11. Those who overcome Satan do so by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. The blood of the Lamb and the words that we speak during the times of our testimony gives victory over Satan! So, what you are and what you say is used to overcome Satan. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb because it is a nature-changing blood that washes the soul clean. When applied to the life of the believer, the blood of Jesus purges the mind from corruption so that we may receive the mind of Christ. “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and
the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying
of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Our consciences are purged by Jesus’ blood. Remember, the war we fight is within. There is something in man that is the enemy of God, and it is this we need to overcome. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness. “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every
man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy
sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” Once our minds are renewed, we can then speak life to others. In fact, we will be compelled to speak the words of God because it will be like a fire in our bones. If you have no drive to testify to God, why not? If you have no compulsion to see God’s words proclaimed, then how do you know that the life of God is within you? What is shutting your mouth and stalling you out in showing forth the praises of God? Do not make the mistake of thinking you are a Christian if you do not speak up and speak out for God. If we hold our tongue about confessing Him, then He will hold His tongue when we are before the Father. (Matthew 10:32) We overcome by the word of our testimony; if we have no testimony we have not overcome...but are being overcome. The Greek word for testimony in Revelation 12:11 is the word marturia, which means: evidence given (judicially or generally): - record, report, testimony, witness This word comes from the Greek word martus translated ‘witness’ in the New Testament, from which we get words like martyr. So, we see that there is a direct correlation between being an overcomer and death. When describing how we overcome in Revelation 12:11, God immediately follows to say “and they loved not their lives unto the death.” First, there is a soulish death that must occur. This is why Jesus said, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life.” (John 12:25) That “old man” conceived by the fall must be crucified! We die to the soulish life and are resurrected to walk in spiritual life. Doing this requires a daily choice and commitment (Luke 9:23, I Corinthians 15:21). It requires a moment-by-moment determination to be a living sacrifice; to walk around with the bloodied, beaten, crucified body of the old man on display as evidenced by a death to this world and its god. The overcomer is dead to the world and the world is dead to those who overcome. (Galatians 6:14) To those who are perishing, this rotting corpse is a repelling stench; to those who are being saved, it is the fragrance of life.
Second, being an overcomer and bearing the testimony of Jesus means that one is marked as a witness for Him. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.” Revelation 6:9 Bearing the testimony of Christ makes one a target for the devil. This is why we must be dead to the world. Once we have processed the fact that our life is not these temporal bodies, what more can the devil hold over us? We are held in bondage to Satan by fear of death. (Hebrews 2:15) Understanding that death is the beginning of life for a believer frees us from Satan’s control. Please get this straight. YOU WILL DIE! People don’t want to think about it, try to delay it, and refuse to acknowledge it, but that doesn’t change the facts. This is not a gloom and doom statement. If you look upon your death as a negative event, then you are not saved. This world is not your home, unless the god of this world is your god. Scripture says that believers will be slain because of the testimony they carry. If you are afraid to speak up on your job, afraid to tell the truth to your neighbor, afraid to represent truth to your friends, then you are still in bondage to Satan. The reason people have no testimony for Christ is because they have not yet overcome. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things;
and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part
in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second
death.” The Evidence of Having Overcome “He came unto his own, and his own received
him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God.” Those who receive Christ are given power “to become” the sons of God. This is not past tense, but future. This implies a process of transformation that takes you from one state of being to another. Born again believers are moving or transitioning into the realm of sonship, which is where the rubber meets the road. The manifestation of Christ in the life of the transformed believer is undeniable and unable to be feigned because it comes backed by the power of God. This is why Jesus said “These signs shall follow them that believe...” (Mark 16:17) “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth
on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than
these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” Jesus said that those who believe in Him will do greater works than He did. Why? Because the true believer has the manifested life of Jesus within. He/She has been transformed into the image of Christ. As such, just as Jesus did, the manifested sons will have dominion over time, space, and the natural creation. Words will be spoken and things will happen! This will not be because the believer has some ability in and of himself, but because he would have decreased and God has increased within. It will take more than mere words to say, “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) When Peter talked to Ananias and Saphirra, they did not just faint, they died. How could this have happened? Peter provides the answer in Acts 5:3a, “...why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost.” Peter had dominion over the things of time and space via the Holy Ghost which lived in him. This is the point that is so sobering about salvation. When people finally see what God is after, it is going to be so terrifying for some that they will never come to the church. All except the ones who have gone through the process; the ones whom God has actually conceived, gestated, birthed and now manifests as His sons. They are going to have the resurrection power, the supernatural anointing, and the attestation of the gifts to show forth the kingdom of God to a world that has not seen God’s kingdom. Choosing Instead to be Overcome “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses,
and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able
to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not
able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And
they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched
unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have
gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof;
and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And
there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants:
and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their
sight.” This is the typical churchworld. Right when you make up your mind to claim the inheritance God has promised, you have those cloaking as God’s people who try to sow doubt. While the true believer has faith that he can overcome, there is always some drag trying to hold people back. Why? Because the drag does not believe what God has said, he is not a believer. Stop assuming that everyone sitting in a church is saved! In a great house there are vessels of honor and dishonor. The wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest. Look at the reason why these people brought an evil
report against the inheritance: there were giants in the land. These
giants are the same type of fallen ones or nephalim that we see described
in Genesis Chapter 6 when fallen angels went unto the daughters of
men to produce men of renown. Looking at these giants, they were as
grasshoppers in their own eyes. This is also how it may appear to
the born again believer. It may seem like the old man is bigger, stronger,
more mighty, but God says that He has already given us the victory. Ask yourself, did Caleb see the giants? Why is it that Caleb saw the land and claimed “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” Comparing their reports, you would think that they had seen different lands. What is it about Caleb that gave him another vision, one that was not focused on the obstacles in the way but one that could only see the promises God had made? “But my servant Caleb, because he had another
spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into
the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” Now we see the difference between those who overcome and those who do not: they are being led by different spirits. Jesus said, “In your patience, possess your souls.” (Luke 21:19) Yet many, claiming to speak for God, lull Christians into a sense of complacency reflected in a pursuit of worldly rewards and fulfillment. When you hear this, you are listening to the smooth, soothing voice of another spirit. They don’t urge people to war for control of their souls, but encourage their souls - with all of its deceitful lusts - to reign over them. “The stranger that is within thee shall get
up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.” Nowadays, the revelation of God is just not real for many people. Too many do not understand that the world is unfolding just as Scripture states. The funny thing about the Bible is that you never need the Bible until you need the Bible. It can seem insignificant until circumstances come your way and you are unprepared. These are the times when you will wish that you had listened. This is why we must work while it is day, for the night will come when no man will work. (John 9:4) Yet people continue to take God lightly. Did you know that some people can call on Jesus and He will answer? But what if you call and He doesn’t even know you? (Matthew 7:23) There may be things you wish you had known to avoid certain situations in life. Being a little wiser, you try and hand that wisdom to a young person on a silver platter and they treat it like nothing. Everything in the nature of the old man becomes old hat if you hear it over and over again. You can see that even in your children. They begin to think that you make too big a deal out of Christianity. “Why do you have to comment about my friends and my music…everybody is not a devil just because they do not live like us.” What they don’t understand is that in most cases, they are in fact dealing with a devil. In a stealth, unseen way, the devil can erode away at your psyche and make you as he is without you even knowing it. In the minds of Adam and Eve, they did not die when they ate the forbidden fruit. If the change caused by their rebellion was physical, then why didn’t Adam notice a change in Eve? He partook in the rebellion because he could not see that Eve had been changed. It can be the same with us. You will wind up like the devil if you fellowship with him, and may not be any the wiser. You cannot ingest just any “word from the Lord” people give you. If the words being spoken are of the wrong spirit, and you receive it, then it will impart to you that spirit. Examine the doctrine of alot of these mega-churches. They breed and cater to the old man. There is a natural inclination in the fallen nature to gravitate to lies because it was conceived by a lie. Both Caleb and the others brought back a report, but the masses followed after what was evil because they were not ready for war. This is in fact why God kept them circling in the wilderness. (Exodus 13:17) But there comes a time when you must go in. There comes a point where you have to stand on what God says or turn back to the world. This is such a time. A radical operation must occur in our minds for us to be compatible with God, to ingest truth, and to conform to it. This is how we overcome.
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